THE BIG RETORT

  The Former Catford Constitutional Club is soon to reopen as The Catford House pub and community centre in the autumn under Greenwich Cooperative agency management. The Big Retort did a walkby and managed to get a pre-opening invite inside to see the transformation. The project is being delivered by Lewisham Council supported by £1.8m in funding from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund. Hayatsu Architects have designed proposals for the refurbished building, as part of a team led by Turner Works, and Claremont Refurbishment.   Restoring the former Catford Constitutional Club The former Catford Constitutional Club is one of the oldest buildings in the town centre, the former Catford Constitutional Club, and bring it back into public use. We are working to restore one of the oldest buildings in the town centre, so briini=ging it back into public use is a wonderful initiative. The locally listed Victorian building was forced to close in August 2019 due to structural...

  The history of science is littered with innovators scorned by the establishment, yet few comparisons are as potent today as that between Avi Loeb and Galileo Galilei. Both—separated by four centuries—stand accused of practising "bad science" because they prioritise the interpretation of new anomalous observations over allegiance to the reigning theoretical dogma... The Big Retort The Case of Loeb: Dogma versus the Null Hypothesis Today, the established astronomical dogma means everything must be explained by known physics and chemistry before anyone dare mention an advanced intelligence greater than ours. This is enforced by the principle of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is usually the correct one). Avi Loeb's "crime" is the suggestion that 'Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS could be extraterrestrial technological artefacts (ETAs) . Avi doesn't assert proof, but argues that these anomalies are so difficult to explain naturally that the ETA hy...

     The Man in The Iron Mask: The Truth Revealed In  Edwardian England  a man accepted an incredible wager: the prize:  £21,000 . It was set down by two notable men,  J P Morgan  (the wealthy banker) and the  Earl of Lonsdale . But following several sightings around various cities and towns, " Iron Man ," who pushed a pram 'throughout the world', face covered in an iron helmet, surviving only on the sale of pamphlets and postcards, disappeared like a phantom. Only to return 6 years later having 'nearly' completed his remarkable odyssey around the globe. 

THE BIG RETORT SPECIAL REPORT A Borough without a conscience Since 2020, two British citizens — Ahmet and Şahin Gök of Meze Mangal — have lived under the shadow of a law never meant for them. Their “crime”? Installing a kitchen extractor in response to a neighbour’s complaint. Their punishment? Criminal prosecution, confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), and the seizure of their passports by Lewisham Council lawyers. This is not regulation. It is retribution. It is “making an example.” Lewisham Council, acting through its out-housed solicitors Browne Jacobson and its barrister Philip Vollans of No. 5 Chambers, has turned a planning dispute into a criminal trial. The council did so while telling magistrates that POCA escalation was “mandatory” — a statement that was, and remains, false. The matter could have been dealt with at magistrates’ court, AND an unlimited fine charged. But Lewisham would not have received over 37% of the take. That’s POCA. The ...

  Following Lewisham Council’s response to our Freedom of Information request (Ref 33066881 ), The Big Retort has discovered a clear contradiction in the Council’s own data regarding its refusal to allow an HMO due to the "one household only" policy in its leases. The Council stated that since launching its Additional HMO Licensing Scheme on 5 April 2022, no licences have been refused on the basis of the “one household only” clause. Yet The Big Retort holds a copy of a refusal letter dated 17 September 2025, which explicitly cites that same clause. Lewisham also admitted that it has no policy, no legal guidance, and no Equality Impact Assessment for applying the clause in licensing decisions. Despite this, it has warned or advised 119 leaseholders that their leases prevent licensing, and issued two Temporary Exemption Notices on that basis. What happened to the other 117 households? The Council has provided no information on outcomes or enforcement , leaving open ...

  Euston, scene one. Picture, if you will, Bedlam on steroids. Travellers huddle on the concourse like pelicans, necks craned at the departure board. The platform flashes up; the herd bolts. “Reserved” on the London–Liverpool line is not a promise, merely a polite suggestion — hence the sprint. Lime Street arrives early. We stroll fifteen minutes to our home-from-home, the excellent Hope Street Hotel.  It’s a perfect spot: near the action, not in it. The corner studios on or above the third floor are the most sort-after parts of the hotel. It’s not just the views! Colin Corin Warm greeting from Colin, practical tips on where to eat, drink and (if you must) dance. Americans abound, museums and Beatles tours are a wander away, and the Philharmonic Hall glows around the corner.  The corner suite came with a gorgeous blonde A brief origin story. The building (The London Carriage Works, 1869) was meant to be apartments until the numbers said “hotel.” Early guests included ...

Lewisham Council’s use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) against the Gök brothers of Meze Mangal has sparked a public backlash, a £20,000 fundraiser, and now questions in Parliament. The Big Retort...   Brenda Dacres What began as a fight for fairness in the Gök/POCA case has become a bit of a movement.  In the prosecution of  Meze Mangal , brought under the authority of Lewisham mayor  Brenda Dacres , two hardworking Turkish restaurant owners have been criminalised, had their passports seized, and now face the loss of decades of work. But people power — through a  GoFundMe page  — is saying, with one voice:  enough.  Since we   first exposed Lewisham Council’s potential misuse of the Proceeds of Crime Act against Ahmet and Şahin Gök , the response has been an overwhelming 500 plus donations.   The fund is closing in on £20,000 , needed to meet the eye-watering legal costs driven up not by the brothers but by a publi...